In 1938, Maria von Trapp fled the Nazi takeover of her Austrian homeland along with her father, her siblings, and her similarly named governess-turned-stepmother, Maria Kutschera von Trapp. Their adventure eventually inspired one of the most beloved film musicals in history, The Sound of Music, which made Julie Andrews (who played stepmother Maria) into a superstar. But the true story lived by von Trapp – who died on Feb. 22 at age 99 in Stowe, Vt. – was considerably different from the one depicted on …

I was expecting just eight minutes or so on the phone talking with Mel Brooks about his new DVD/CD/Book Collection “The Incredible Mel Brooks: An Irresistible Collection of Unhinged Comedy.” But as you’ll hear in my You Tube video above, when Mel Brooks wants to talk, you don’t try to stop him (not that I wanted to!). I had to toil mightily to cut our 45-minute chat down to three short segments. In this part, Mel tells me about …